{"id":253228,"date":"2026-04-16T21:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253228\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:39:08","slug":"he-took-a-bullet-doing-what-he-loves-south-houston-department-fights-for-wounded-officers-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253228\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He took a bullet doing what he loves’: South Houston department fights for wounded officer’s recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

His department of 36 is rallying around him and his family.<\/p>\n

SOUTH HOUSTON, Texas \u2014 A South Houston police officer is recovering after\u00a0being shot in the head by a suspect<\/a> wielding a shotgun during a traffic stop last month, sending shockwaves through the small, tight-knit department.<\/p>\n

Officer Aaron Botello miraculously survived<\/a> the shooting and was released from the hospital just one week later, though his recovery is expected to be lengthy. The incident has rallied his fellow officers, department members and union representatives around Botello and his family.<\/p>\n


\n \"\" <\/p>\n


\n This story continues below. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to get that call,\u201d Detective Cedric Rodriguez said. \u201cTo get that call is probably the worst thing in law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Botello was released from the hospital about a week after the shooting, but colleagues say his recovery is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a long road ahead of him,\u201d detective Rodriguez said. \u201cThank God he\u2019s in great spirits. We just saw him yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detective Aaron Badillo said the outcome could have been far worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much better to have him here with us than to be mourning the loss of his life,\u201d Badillo said.<\/p>\n

The shooting has brought the department\u2019s roughly three dozen members closer together as they support Botello and his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see each other every day, but you don\u2019t really see how close you can be until you have an incident like this,\u201d detective Badillo said.<\/p>\n

The department and union representatives have organized several efforts to help ease the burden on Botello\u2019s family, including an online fundraiser and upcoming community events.<\/p>\n

A barbecue fundraiser is scheduled for April 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1000 Houston Blvd in South Houston. A second event \u2014 a barbecue fundraiser with a silent auction and 50\/50 raffle \u2014 is planned for June 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hometown Sports Bar and Grill in Pearland.<\/p>\n

Organizers say the goal is to reduce financial stress so Botello can focus on his recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of helps take a little bit of stress off another area of life where he can just focus on his recovery,\u201d a detective said.<\/p>\n

As officers return to their duties, they say Botello remains on their minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the back of my mind, I\u2019m hoping that my brother is good and that he\u2019s going to be OK,\u201d detective Badillo said.<\/p>\n


\nFundraiser by South Houston Police Officers’ Association <\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

For more information on how to help Officer Botello and his family, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"His department of 36 is rallying around him and his family. SOUTH HOUSTON, Texas \u2014 A South Houston…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-253228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}